Every day in February our family will be litter picking as our daily exercise to raise funds for our local hospital. They hope to use the money towards creating a garden for critical care patients and are aiming to raise approx £20K in total.

We have been following the pandemic diary of an Intensive Care Consultant, Dr Richard Cree, whose blog ‘There are no more surgeons ...’ (https://www.nomoresurgeons.com/) documents the day to day reality of caring for critically ill COVID patients at the James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough.  One of the most difficult things that the unit has had to cope with is the fact that their patients can't see their relatives.

‘We can only try to articulate the impact that this has on our patients and families. It is quite literally heart-breaking’  explains Lindsay Garcia, ICU Nurse Consultant, ‘creating an environment outside to safely take critically ill patients provides an opportunity for them to see their loved ones as they slowly embark on a road to recovery.” 

The pandemic has really made us appreciate how lucky we are to live in a place like Saltburn, where the outdoors is close at hand; walking on the beach, swimming in the sea and exploring the woods has had such a positive impact on our family’s wellbeing during the pandemic.  We are supporting the creation of this outdoor space to help enable patients and staff to escape the sensory overload and stress of the ICU and enjoy a moment of respite outdoors.

Your generosity supporting this fundraiser will directly benefit those hardest by the virus, their families and those who care for them. 

Thanks to Keeping It Clean At Saltburn for lending us the litter-pickers! A group of Saltburn residents who got together with the common aim to keep our beach clean and litter free, for us, for the wildlife and for the environment: https://www.facebook.com/kicasaltburn/

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